This bill directs DPI, annually by June 30, to publish a school and school district
accountability report that includes the following components:
1. Multiple measures to determine performance, including pupil achievement
and growth in reading and mathematics; measures of college and career readiness;
and gaps in pupil achievement and rates of graduation, categorized by race, English
language proficiency, disability, and income.
2. An index system to identify a school's level of performance and place each
school into one of five performance categories.
Within one year after an independent charter school, or a private school
participating in a parental choice program, begins using the student information
system established by DPI, DPI must include the school in its annual school
accountability report.
This bill creates a grant program through which a qualifying school may receive
an award related to the school's performance on the accountability reports issued by
DPI. The bill identifies three categories of qualifying schools: 1) schools placed in
a performance category of "significantly exceeds expectations" or "exceeds
expectations" on the most recent accountability report; 2) schools that increase the
score received on the most recent accountability report by at least three points over
the previous accountability report; and 3) schools placed in a performance category
of "fails to meet expectations" on the most recent accountability report and that
submit a comprehensive school improvement plan to DPI.
Under current law, DPI must develop an educator effectiveness evaluation
system (EEES). School districts and independent charter school operators must
employ the EEES to evaluate teachers and principals on a variety of measures. This
bill permits DPI to charge a fee to school districts and independent charter schools
to use the EEES developed by DPI. The bill also permits DPI to award grants to
school districts to implement an EEES or equivalent evaluation process.
This bill directs DPI to grant a charter school teaching license to any person who
has a bachelor's degree and demonstrates that he or she is proficient in the subject
or subjects that he or she intends to teach. The license authorizes the person to teach
that subject or those subjects in a charter school. The bill does not explicitly limit
the person to teaching only certain grades. The license is valid for three years and
may be renewed.
This bill eliminates a requirement that any person teaching an online course
in a public school, including a charter school, complete at least 30 hours of related
professional development. The bill also prohibits DPI from requiring a teacher
licensed to teach in a virtual charter school to complete professional development not
required to be completed by teachers who do not teach in a virtual charter school.
Currently, DPI may issue an emergency permit to an applicant who has a
bachelor's degree, which authorizes the holder to be employed by a school board as
a professional school employee for one specific assignment. The permit is valid for
up to one year. This bill directs DPI to ensure that teaching experience gained while
a person held an emergency permit counts toward fulfillment of the teaching
experience requirement for a license based on experience or for an administrator's
license.
This bill prohibits DPI from requiring that a licensed teacher or instructional
staff member be physically present in the classroom when the delivery of content or
collaborative instruction in the classroom is being provided digitally or through an
online course.
Under current law, a school district that is created as the result of consolidation
is eligible to receive two types of additional state aid during the five school years
following the consolidation. The first type is an increased amount of equalization aid
that is the result of a 15 percent increase that is applied to the consolidated school
district's shared cost and guaranteed valuation. The second type is special
adjustment aid in an amount necessary to ensure that the consolidated school
district's general aid is at least equal to the total amount of general aid that the
consolidated districts received in the school year before the consolidation
(underlying district aid). This bill extends the period during which a consolidated
school district may receive these two types of additional aid to seven years following
consolidation and makes the following changes during the extension period:
1. For the sixth school year following the consolidation, a 10 percent increase
is applied to the consolidated school district's shared cost and guaranteed valuation
factors and the consolidated school district is guaranteed to receive at least 66
percent of the underlying district aid.
2. In the seventh year following the consolidation, a 5 percent increase is
applied to the consolidated school district's shared cost and guaranteed valuation
factors and the consolidated school district is guaranteed to receive at least 33
percent of the underlying district aid.
Current law directs DPI, the Board of Regents of the UW System, the Technical
College System Board, and the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and
Universities to enter into a written agreement requiring them to establish and
maintain a longitudinal data system of student data that links such data from
preschool programs to postsecondary programs. This bill requires that DCF and
DWD be parties to the agreement and that work force data be a part of the data
system.
This bill requires DPI to provide funding to Teach for America, Inc., to recruit
and prepare individuals to teach in low-income or urban school districts.
This bill increases the reimbursement rate to school districts for transporting
a pupil who lives more than 12 miles from the school the pupil attends from $220 per
school year to $275 per school year.
Current law directs DPI to award a grant to any teacher who is certified by the
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards or who is licensed by DPI as a
master educator. A person awarded a grant is eligible for additional grants over the
succeeding nine years. Beginning with grants awarded in 2014-15, this bill requires
that a person who is receiving a grant and is licensed as a master educator have and
maintain a rating of "effective" or "highly effective" in the applicable educator
effectiveness system.
This bill directs DPI to develop and maintain an online resource, called
WISElearn, to provide educational resources for parents, teachers, and pupils; offer
online learning opportunities; provide regional technical support centers; provide
professional development for teachers; and enable video conferencing.
Higher education
Under current law, technical colleges receive funding from various sources,
including property taxes levied by technical college district boards. Current law also
makes various appropriations for technical colleges, including a specified amount of
state aid each fiscal year that the Technical College System (TCS) Board is required
to allocate to each technical college district. Current law requires the TCS Board to
allocate the state aid to districts based on a formula that specifies the costs eligible
for the state aid. The formula also allocates a greater percentage of the state aid to
districts that have lower property valuations, which are not able to generate as much
property tax revenue as districts with higher property valuations.
This bill gradually replaces, in accordance with a specified schedule, the
formula under current law with a new formula established by the TCS Board for
allocating the state aid based on a technical college district's performance regarding
all of the following criteria (performance criteria): 1) student job placement rates; 2)
the number of degrees and certificates awarded in high-demand fields; 3) the
number of programs or courses with industry-validated curriculum; 4) the
transition of adult students from basic education to skills training; 5) participation
in certain dual enrollment programs; and 6) workforce training provided to
businesses and individuals. No later than December 31, 2013, the TCS Board must
submit a plan for making allocations according to the new formula to the secretary
of administration (secretary). Upon approval or modification by the secretary, the
TCS Board must administer the plan. The bill also requires the TCS Board to submit
a report to the secretary in each fiscal year that describes how the state aid is
allocated to each technical college district under the new formula.
This bill directs the Board of Regents of the UW System to award grants to UW
institutions to provide funding for:
1. Economic development programs.
2. Programs that have as their objective the development of an educated and
skilled workforce.
3. Programs to improve the affordability of postsecondary education for
resident undergraduates.
The bill directs the Board of Regents to report annually to DOA on the programs
awarded a grant. The report must include the goals, budget, and results for each
program and a systemwide summary of all programs funded.
The bill consolidates a number of separate appropriations to the TCS Board for
grants to technical college districts for various purposes except for aid for driver
training. The bill provides that all such grants are discretionary, not mandatory, and
authorizes the TCS Board to award grants to district boards for activities related to
improving district performance.
Current law imposes a limit of 1.5 mills on the property taxes levied by a
technical college district board for the operation of the district. This bill eliminates
that limit.
This bill imposes a limit on the increase in a technical college district board's
operating levy. Under the bill, no district board may increase its tax levy by a
percentage that exceeds a percentage equal to the greater of zero percent or the
percentage change in the district's equalized value due to the aggregate new
construction, less improvements removed, in municipalities located in the district
during the previous year.
If a district board's allowable levy is greater than its actual levy in any year, the
district board may by a three-fourths vote increase its limit in the succeeding year
by the difference, up to a maximum of 0.5 percent of its actual levy. If a district board
wishes to exceed its limit, it must adopt a resolution to that effect and hold a
district-wide referendum. If a district board exceeds its limit without the approval
of the electors, the state technical college system board must reduce the district's aid
payments by the amount of the excess.
Current law requires that the Board of Regents of the UW System and the
chancellor of UW-Madison submit compensation plans for UW employees to the
director of the Office of State Employment Relations (OSER), who then makes
recommendations for UW employee compensation to the Joint Committee on
Employment Relations (JCOER) for approval. This bill eliminates the requirements
that the Board of Regents and the chancellor of UW-Madison submit the plans to the
director of OSER and receive JCOER approval. In addition, the bill eliminates all
funding for the Board of Regents from the compensation reserve, a pool of moneys
used to fund salary adjustments for UW System employees. Under the bill, salary
adjustments are funded from moneys directly appropriated to the Board of Regents.
Current law requires the Board of Regents to establish policies for transferring
credits between institutions within the system. The policies must designate the
courses that are transferable without loss of credit toward graduation or toward
completion of a specific course of study. In addition, current law allows the Board of
Regents to establish policies for transferring credits with educational institutions
outside the system. Current law also allows the TCS Board, in agreement with the
Board of Regents, to designate courses that are transferable for collegiate credit
between the technical colleges and the UW System.
This bill requires the Board of Regents and the TCS Board to enter into an
agreement regarding transfer of credit for courses generally required for an
undergraduate degree that are prerequisite or otherwise in addition to the courses
required for an undergraduate degree in a specific course of study (core general
education courses). The agreement must ensure that, beginning in the 2014-15
academic year, not fewer than 30 credits of such courses are transferable within and
between each UW school and technical college. The agreement must also ensure that
the courses are transferrable without loss of credit toward graduation or toward
completion of a specific course of study.
The bill also requires the Board of Regents and the TCS Board to ensure that
in-state tribally controlled colleges (tribal colleges) and that nonprofit institutions
of higher education that are members of the Wisconsin Association of Independent
Colleges and Universities have an opportunity to participate in the agreement. If a
tribal college or private school participates, the agreement must ensure that credits
for core general educational courses are transferable within and between each
participating tribal college and private school, as well as UW schools and technical
colleges.
Under current law, a veteran who was a resident of this state when he or she
entered the armed forces and who meets certain additional criteria is eligible for a
full remission of tuition and segregated fees at a UW institution, or of tuition and
materials fees at a technical college, for 128 credits or eight semesters, whichever is
longer. This bill makes the following changes to this fee remission program for
eligible veterans:
1. The veteran must have been a resident of this state when he or she entered
the armed forces or for at least five consecutive years.
2. In determining a veteran's residence at the time he or she entered the armed
forces, the state from which the veteran entered is irrelevant.
3. A veteran must maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0 to
remain eligible for the fee remission.
Under current law, the spouse and children of a veteran who was a resident of
this state when he or she entered the armed forces and to whom one of the following
applies is eligible for the same tuition remission:
1. The veteran, while a state resident, died while on active duty, as the result
of a service-connected disability, or in the line of duty while in training.
2. The veteran has been awarded at least a 30 percent service-connected
disability rating by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Under current law, with certain exceptions, a spouse is eligible for a fee
remission under this program only if he or she is a state resident and only for the first
ten years after the veteran receives the disability rating or after the veteran dies.
A child is eligible only if he or she is a state resident and is at least 17 and not yet
26 years old. This bill makes the same changes to this fee remission program as it
makes to the first-described program and eliminates the ten-year limitation for a
spouse.
With certain exceptions, current law, beginning on July 1, 2013, prohibits the
Board of Regents and all UW Schools, including the UW-Extension (UW schools)
from being a member, shareholder, or partner in organizations that provide
telecommunications services, including Internet-related services. Current law
includes an exception for organizations that are comprised entirely of universities
and university-affiliated research facilities.
This bill creates a new exception for an organization that advances research or
higher education, except that an association called WiscNet does not qualify for the
new exception. The bill's new exception applies if the Board of Regents or a UW
school served as a member, shareholder, or partner in the organization on February
1, 2013, or if the DOA secretary determines that the organization qualifies for the
exception. If the bill's new exception applies, the Board of Regents or UW school may
use the organization's services and may also participate in the organization's
operations or provide certain services to the organization, but only if the
participation, or provision of services, is in connection with the Board of Regents' or
UW school's use of the organization's services.
This bill makes an appropriation to the Board of Regents for costs incurred by
the UW Carbone Cancer Center (center) that relate to translational imaging
research, research imaging and scanning, research imaging equipment, and the
Wisconsin Oncology Network. The bill also requires the center to submit a plan to
the secretary of administration for raising matching funds from federal, private, and
other sources to help defray the foregoing costs. The bill prohibits any release of
moneys from the appropriation until the secretary of administration approves the
fund-raising plan.
This bill directs the Board of Regents annually to allocate $1,500,000 for the
Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine and the Training in Urban Medicine and
Public Health Program at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health.
Other educational and cultural agencies
Current law appropriates to the Higher Educational Aids Board certain
general purpose revenue for the support of Wisconsin residents who are pursuing
doctor of dental surgery degrees at the Marquette University Dental School and caps
the number of students who may be so funded at 160. This bill increases that cap
to 200.
Under current law, the Educational Approval Board (EAB) inspects and
approves private trade, correspondence, business, and technical schools to protect
the students of those schools, prevent fraud, and encourage accepted educational
standards at those schools. Currently, EAB is attached to the TCS Board for
administrative purposes. This bill attaches EAB to DSPS for administrative
purposes.
Employment
Currently, with limited exceptions, in order to become and remain eligible to
receive unemployment insurance benefits for any week, a claimant is required,
among other things, to register for work and to conduct a reasonable search for
suitable work within that week, which must include at least two actions that
constitute a reasonable search as prescribed by rule by DWD. This bill requires each
claimant to register for work in the manner directed by DWD and increases the
minimum number of actions that a claimant must undertake to become and remain
eligible for benefits to at least four actions per week.
Environment
Air quality
The federal government has delegated to DNR the authority to administer the
federal Clean Air Act in this state. The Clean Air Act requires operators of certain
stationary sources of air pollution, such as large factories, to have operation permits
(federal operation permits). State law requires operators of additional stationary
sources of air pollution to have operation permits (state operation permits).
Generally, current law requires an operator who has a federal operation permit
to pay an annual fee of $35.71 per ton of certain pollutants emitted in the previous
year, subject to a cap. This bill increases the amount of the annual fee imposed on
operators who have federal operation permits to $46.71 per ton in 2014 and $59.81
per ton in 2015. After 2015, the fee per ton is increased by 4 percent annually.
Generally, current law requires an operator who has a state operation permit
to pay a fee of $300 per year. This bill increases the fee to $725 per year.
Environmental cleanup
Currently, this state operates a program known as PECFA to reimburse owners
of certain petroleum product storage tanks for a portion of the costs of cleaning up
discharges from those tanks. Under current law, DSPS administers PECFA, with
involvement by DNR. Current law also authorizes DSPS to provide funding for the
removal of abandoned underground petroleum product storage tanks. This bill
transfers the administration of PECFA and the authority to fund the removal of
those tanks from DSPS to DNR.
Water quality
Under current law, both DSPS and DNR administer laws regarding erosion
control at construction sites. DSPS has erosion control authority over building sites
for public buildings, buildings that are places of employment (commercial buildings),
and one-family and two-family dwellings. DNR has erosion control authority over
sites where the construction activities do not include the construction of a building,
such as sites involving street or bridge construction.
This bill transfers from DSPS to DNR erosion control authority over
construction sites with a land disturbance area of one or more acres, regardless of
whether the construction activity includes the construction of a building. Under the
bill, DSPS retains authority over construction sites with a land disturbance area of
less than one acre and that involve the construction of a commercial building or a
one-family or two-family dwelling.
Current law requires certain persons who discharge storm water to obtain a
storm water discharge permit. This bill specifies that this permit requirement
applies to conveyances of storm water associated with a construction site, including
a building construction site.
Under the Clean Water Fund Program, this state provides financial assistance
for projects for controlling water pollution, including loans at subsidized interest
rates. This bill sets the present value of the Clean Water Fund Program subsidies
that may be provided during the 2013-15 biennium at $76,700,000.
Under the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program, this state provides loans at
subsidized interest rates to local governmental units for projects for the construction
or modification of public water systems. This bill sets the present value of the Safe
Drinking Water Loan Program subsidies that may be provided during the 2013-15
biennium at $29,600,000 and increases the general obligation bonding authority for
the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program by $7,100,000.
Under current law, DNR administers a program to provide financial assistance
for projects to reduce nonpoint source water pollution in areas that are targeted due
to surface water quality problems. This bill increases the authorized general
obligation bonding authority for this program by $7,000,000.
Under current law, DNR administers programs to provide financial assistance
for the management of urban storm water runoff and for flood control and riparian
restoration projects. This bill increases the general obligation bonding authority for
these programs by $5,000,000.
Current law authorizes DNR to pay a portion of the costs of a project to remove
contaminated sediment from Lake Michigan or Lake Superior or their tributaries.
This bill increases the general obligation bonding authority for sediment removal
projects by $5,000,000.
GAMbling
Current law regulates the operation of crane games by requiring DOA
registration of a crane game before it is set up for play, and before the owner may
collect any proceeds from the game. A crane game is an amusement device involving
skill that rewards the player exclusively with prizes, toys, and novelties of limited
value contained within the device. This bill repeals all provisions that regulate the
operation of crane games.
Under current law, a lottery prize winner may receive payment of the prize
either in the form of a lump sum or in installments as an annuity. If a prize winner
dies before all of the annuity payments are made, the remainder of the prize may be
paid to the person's estate. This bill specifically provides that in the case of the death
of a prize winner, any installments that have not been paid shall be paid to the
winner's estate. The bill also authorizes the personal representative of an estate to
choose for the estate to receive the remaining installments as a lump sum. It also
allows persons, other than prize winners, who are receiving annuity payments of
unpaid prize money to choose a lump sum payment. The ability to choose a lump sum
payment is not available when the prize money is from a multistate lottery.
health and human services
Public assistance
Under current law, DHS administers the federal Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the food stamp program and
currently known in Wisconsin as FoodShare, under which eligible households
receive benefits to purchase food at retail food stores. Under current law, with
certain exceptions, DHS may require a recipient of SNAP benefits who is able and
who is 18 to 60 years of age to participate in the FoodShare employment and training
program (FSET) to be eligible for SNAP benefits, including an individual who is the
caretaker of a child under the age of 12 weeks.
This bill authorizes DHS to implement a federal policy under which DHS may
limit the amount of SNAP benefits that an able-bodied adult may receive to three
months during a three-year period if the adult does not meet certain work
requirements. An able-bodied adult, as defined by the bill, is an individual who is
18 to 49 years old, is fit for employment, is not a parent of a household member who
is younger than 18, is not pregnant, and is not otherwise exempt from specific work
requirements under federal law. DHS may implement this policy in addition to the
current employment and training program. This bill also expands the FSET
participation requirement exception for an individual who is the caretaker of a child
under the age of 12 weeks to a caretaker of a child under the age of six years to comply
with federal law.
Under current law, the transitional jobs demonstration project, under which
DCF pays wage subsidies to employers who employ low-income individuals in
transitional jobs, will end on July 1, 2013. This bill creates a Transform Milwaukee
Jobs program (TMJ program) that is very similar to the transitional jobs
demonstration project. Under the TMJ program, an employer, or a person with
which DCF contracts to administer the program (contractor), that employs a
program participant must employ the participant at least 20 hours per week at a
location in this state and pay at least minimum wage. DCF pays the employer or
contractor a wage subsidy that is equal to the wage the employer or contractor pays
the participant, up to 40 hours per week at minimum wage, and may reimburse the
employer or contractor for certain taxes and other expenses that are attributable to
employment of the participant.
Current law prohibits any person from disclosing information about
individuals applying for or receiving benefits under a number of public assistance
programs for any purpose not related to administration of the programs. DCF is
authorized, however, to disclose such information to DOR for the sole purpose of
administering state taxes. The bill provides that DCF and DHS may disclose such
information by transmitting or allowing access to electronic data, that administering
state taxes includes verifying refundable income tax credits, and that the
information may also be disclosed for the purpose of collecting debts owed to DOR.
Wisconsin Works
The Wisconsin Works (W-2) program under current law, which is administered
by DCF, provides work experience and benefits for low-income custodial parents who
are at least 18 years old. Also, an individual who is the parent of a child under the
age of 13 or, if the child is disabled, under the age of 19, who needs child care services
to participate in various educational or work activities, and who satisfies other
eligibility criteria may receive a child care subsidy for child care services under the
W-2 program. This child care subsidy program is known as Wisconsin Shares. The
bill makes the following changes to Wisconsin Shares:
1. Under current law, DCF reimburses child care providers or distributes funds
to county departments or tribal governing bodies for child care services provided
under Wisconsin Shares and to private nonprofit agencies that provide child care for
children of migrant workers. This bill provides that, in addition to the ways in which
DCF may distribute child care subsidy funds under current law, DCF may issue
benefits directly to individuals who are eligible for the subsidies.
2. Under current law, counties set maximum rates, which are approved by DCF,
for child care services under Wisconsin Shares. However, DCF may modify an
individual child care provider's maximum rate on the basis of the child care
provider's quality rating under the quality rating plan known as YoungStar. Current
law allows DCF to increase the maximum rate for a provider who receives a four-star
rating under YoungStar by up to 5 percent. Under this bill, DCF determines the
maximum rates for child care services under Wisconsin Shares. This bill also
authorizes DCF to increase the maximum rate for a child care provider who receives
a four-star rating under YoungStar by up to 10 percent beginning January 1, 2014.
3. Under current law, individuals receiving child care subsidies under
Wisconsin Shares must pay, as a copayment for the child care, a percentage of the cost
of the child care specified by DCF in a printed copayment schedule. The bill changes
the copayments that eligible individuals must pay for child care to the difference
between the cost of the child care provided by the provider selected by the individual
and the subsidy amount.
4. Under the bill, if a noncustodial parent of a child is required to pay child
support and the custodial parent of the child is a participant in W-2 or is eligible to
receive a child care subsidy for the child under Wisconsin Shares, the noncustodial
parent is eligible to receive the following services and benefits under W-2:
a. Job search assistance and case management services.
b. A monetary stipend for up to four months.
c. Work experience in one trial employment match program job.
5. The bill allows any noncustodial parent who is ineligible for a job access loan
solely because the individual is not a custodial parent to receive a job access loan
under W-2 to enable the individual to obtain or continue employment.
6. The bill provides that an individual who is eligible for a child care subsidy
under Wisconsin Shares may use the subsidy for child care that is provided by an
out-of-state provider. The rate at which the out-of-state provider is paid is based
on the maximum rate paid to a provider in the county in which the eligible individual
resides or the out-of-state provider's actual rate, whichever is lower.
W-2 provides work experience to a participant through placement in one of a
number of different employment positions, depending on the participant's skills,
training, and experience. For one of the employment positions, called trial jobs, a
W-2 agency pays a wage subsidy to a private employer that employs a W-2
participant. The bill terminates the trial job employment position and replaces it
with a trial employment match program (TEMP) that has the same features as the
trial job employment position, except for a few changes.
Under current law, a W-2 agency pays an employer a wage subsidy of not more
than $300 per month for full-time employment of a participant in a trial job. Under
the bill, in TEMP the W-2 agency and employer negotiate the wage subsidy, which
is be paid for every hour that the participant actually works, up to 40 hours per week,
at not less than the applicable minimum wage. In addition, the W-2 agency may
reimburse the employer for all or a portion of certain taxes and other costs associated
with employment of the participant. The bill changes the maximum time in a TEMP
job from up to three months to up to six months, with a possible three-month
extension. Currently, an employer that employs a participant in a trial job must
agree to make a good faith effort to retain the participant as a permanent
unsubsidized employee after the wage subsidy under the trial job ends. For TEMP
the bill adds that, if the employer does not retain the participant, the employer must
serve as an employment reference for the participant or must provide the W-2
agency with a written performance evaluation with recommendations for
improvement.
